Blog of Jesse Magnan. That would make it my blog, where I post reviews, share stories and utter out loud the occasional thought that I probably should have kept to myself.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Book Review: The Cat, The Crow, and the Cauldron: A Halloween Anthology

So it is about that time of year where many of us ask to be
scared. We want chills and that feeling of something ghoulish creeping up on us
out of the corner of our eye. Movies and television can try to give us that haunted
feeling, and they have their moments, but nothing is quite as good as a scary
story.

This short
story anthology gives us more than one story, it gives us nine. Short story anthologies
are underrated. I’m not sure why. Maybe people think that they need an entire
novel to enjoy a good story? Those people are wrong. Drop them. You don’t need
that kind of negativity in your life.

With well crafted short stories we get a tight narrative and
quality characters in bite size chunks.And this anthology delivers quality writing and addictive stories that
will keep you turning the page.

In a lot of ways The
Cat, The Crow, and the Cauldronis like a bag after you have been out
trick or treating. You go through your bag and find that there is some candy
you like, some you will eat only when there is no other candy left, and some
you don’t like at first but once you try it is some of the best candy you will ever have greedily devoured all in one afternoon (Not that I do that, well maybe,
just once. Okay, it was yesterday but that’s my business. And yes I regret it,
but only for a little while).

To continue this metaphor (or maybe just to grind it to dust after
beating it to a pulp?) there are stories with happy endings, depressing endings,
some are slow to start, and others end leaving you wanting more. But I need to
be clear, none of this is bad. Not every story is for every taste and these
nine stories run the gamut. Messages form the past, ghosts, a demon apocalypse,
psychological horror are all present. Better yet I never once felt as though I
were reading someone’s rehashed vampire/werewolf fan fiction (not that there is
anything wrong with it if that is your thing but I am tired of it) or poorly
edited Lovecraft Tentacle Erotica (yes that is a thing, no I will not provide a link).

Speaking of Erotica, the final story gets a little hot if
that is your thing. What I normally read doesn’t
usually go in that direction, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. If that is your thing I
think you would enjoy it too.

So to sum everything up: Halloween is Saturday and instead
of watching the same movies, the same TV, or reading the same scary stories you
have been reading since you were a kid go out and grab this book. It will give
you something new to be afraid of in the dark. You’ll think twice when you are
at the museum, second guess what you know about history, and wonder if that
strange thing in the sky is a portal the herald’s an end of days through
a gnashing of teeth.

A strange and wonderful
collection of Halloween stories, ranging from paranormal romance to horror.

Joe
DeRouen’s “Good Fortune” teaches us a valuable lesson
about why you should be very careful when you hold someone’s fate in your
hands. It may come back to haunt you, just as it does for Grimsley Harkness,
who dares to wish for more than he deserves.

Celia
Kennedy’s “Nothing Scares Me” takes readers on a test of
endurance. Lost in the Florida Everglades, Ardith Deblois, wife, mother and
intrepid adventurer, fights for her life. Enveloped within the humid swamplands
is a perilous maze full of obstacles and adversaries. Which is the greater
impediment, the humans that hunt her or the deadly animals and poisonous plants
she hides amongst?Can she fight through fatigue and dehydration to
save herself? Nothing Scares Me. True or not?

Zeece Lugo’s “Five Stories Up” finds us on October 31st, 1966, and night
is falling over the city. Below, the groups of little ghosts and goblins stream
in and out of the front stoops and basement bodegas, running, laughing, white
blankets flapping in the wind, their candy treasures tightly held in hand. But
above, in the dark rooftop of Sonia's building, something pale and evil watches
her, and beckons...

Angie
Martin's "Sold" follows a paranormal team as
they investigate the home of a serial killer for their live Halloween night
televised show.

In Heather Osborne's “Will You Remember Me?” past and present collide when ghosts
from witch trials of long ago come to life. It's up to Sierra to lay things to
rest.

In Leonie
Rogers' “Roast Pumpkin” Anna discovers that going trick-or-treating
in her new home town is more of an out-of-this-world experience than she'd ever
imagined.

CJ
Rutherford's “Treaters” tells the story of Jaz. Who would
believe the world would end on Halloween night? Can Jaz, a retired U.S. Marine,
battle loss, grief, demons, and loneliness, to survive the end of the world?

In Jada
Ryker’s “Dead Eye” Alex takes Marisa to an unusual
Halloween party in an isolated Kentucky community… with a murderer ready with
deadly tricks, rather than treats.

In Jalpa Williby’s “Beauty and the Beast” Kelsey’s entire family perishes in
a fire on a dreadful Halloween night. Overcome by grief and guilt, she decides
to end her pain once and for all. Will the mysterious stranger be her savior,
or will he ultimately cause her tragic demise?

About Me

Getting older means having survived another year on a planet that is trying to kill us, in a solar system that is a shooting gallery within a galaxy that has a black hole in the center in a universe that isn't even aware of our existence.